saw her smile at him, and his smile in return. I was glad he didn’t see me studying them.
Lundi was like all the weekdays, beginning with a hurried breakfast and a rush to the duty carriage. The morning was long, because I had been tasked with writing a fair copy of the inventory we had done the week before. The good part was that lunch was a good ragout with dark bread, and the three of us had a chance to talk before they returned to the Council Chateau.
Once more I had to hurry to get ready for Clovyl, although I had come to enjoy those afternoon sessions and learning skills that were largely physical in nature and technique. I couldn’t help but think that, had I known what he had taught me when I’d been at grammaire, my years there would have been far less painful.
Lundi evening I met with Master Dichartyn, and he actually agreed with my “new” technique-imaging aleyan into the back of the eye-but he pointed out that it was not new, and that pitricine would work as well, although aleyan was harder to detect. After that, it was actually enjoyable to learn about various delaying or disabling tricks, many of which were so obvious after being told, but not something that I would necessarily have thought of without prompting, things like imaging oil and wax onto a step or pavement under a boot or shoe, or tar, for a slowing effect on someone running. I particularly liked the powdered chilis in the nose.
When we had finished with that, he fingered his chin, and I knew something was coming.
“Now that you are about to become a true working imager, I need to repeat some things. There are other unwritten but very real rules for imager counterspies. I am certain that Master Jhulian has intimated what they are, but I will lay them out directly. First, except in cases of publicly witnessed self-defense, anyone you kill or otherwise dispose of must appear to have died through an accident or in some fashion that cannot be said to be murder. Second, such removals must always take place when you are unobserved and someone else is present to honestly testify that no one else was present. Third, you will report every such incident, and failure to do so could result in severe consequences. Fourth, you tell no one but me or the head maitre of the Collegium what you have done in accomplishing those duties, and such reports are to be only verbal. You are never to write down anywhere the actions you have taken or the charges that you have been given. Do you understand that?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I have some reading material for you.” He smiled wryly. “It’s not text. It has to do with one of your assignments.”
“Don’t I already have my assignment, sir?”
“You do, but we all have multiple assignments. The Council generally only meets some ten glasses a week, usually from ninth glass until second or third glass of the afternoon. In the later afternoon, not all of you are required. Everyone has some additional assignments, and at times when the Council goes out of session early, Baratyn will decide who will remain at the Chateau and who will be released to work on the assignments I’ve given.” He handed me several sheets of paper.
I glanced at them, then looked again. The first was the civic patroller report on the death of Master Caliostrus, and it contained the names and addresses of all of Caliostrus’s relatives in L’Excelsis. The second was a sheet listing information on Johanyr, and the third dealt with Diazt.
“Someone was hired to kill you. Your assignment is to see if you can discover who hired that assassin. Once you have evidence of that, you will report to me before acting against that person. If you encounter other assassins, you can dispose of them, provided you do so either quietly or in a well-witnessed instance of self- defense. The most likely suspects are relatives of the late Master Caliostrus, but Diazt also had friends from the hellhole who engage in such matters as removing enemies. I would suggest not visiting there, because there would either be a great number of dead taudismen or we’d have to find and train another imager to replace you.”
I hadn’t thought of visiting the hellhole, or any of the taudis. “Does this mean I’m no longer restricted to Imagisle?”
“As of tomorrow, you’re not. You certainly have the skills to defend yourself, but what you still lack is an awareness of everything around you. That is something you will need to practice all the time until it becomes as natural to you as breathing, until you know all that may impact you without ever having to think about it. Only time and practice will grant you that.” He smiled sadly. “Please be cautious. As I told you months ago, there are no bold old imagers.”
Now that I was finally free to leave . . . none of the people I really wanted to see, except Khethila, were presently in L’Excelsis, and it didn’t make sense to see her until the weekend, because there really wasn’t enough time to take a hack out and back during the week.
“And one other thing-on Samedi morning, at the eighth glass, Maitre Poincaryt will be at your new studio so that you can start his portrait.” Master Dichartyn smiled. “This is an example of being careful in what you ask for, Rhennthyl. If you get it, you have to deal with the consequences.”
That meant more work to squeeze in somewhere, because the studio wasn’t set up for me to actually start painting. Still . . . I did look forward to it. “It will be a good portrait, sir, but it may take a little longer with the press of carrying out other assignments.”
“Master Poincaryt understands that all too well.” Master Dichartyn stood. “Go get some sleep. You’ll need it.”
“Yes, sir.” I nodded. Would I find sleep that easily after all that had happened, and the additional assignment that I’d just been given?
51
When you seek, do not seek only that which you can
accept or believe.
By the time I walked across the quadrangle to dinner on Vendrei evening, I was tired, but not overly so. I was just glad the majority of my intensive training had come to an end. I’d received a brief letter from Mother on Mardi, and another one from Seliora just that afternoon. Mother informed me that the three of them would be arriving back in L’Excelsis on Lundi, the second of Agostos, and hoped that I could come on the following Samedi for dinner-a small family birthday dinner, since I had made it more than apparent that her choices of female companions did not appeal to me.
Seliora’s letter was cheerful. She hoped I was well and apologized that dinner would have to be on the fourteenth because her mother had already planned a birthday celebration for Aunt Aegina on the seventh. She also wrote that they all felt that I’d probably be tied up with my family on the seventh. Was that a good judgment . . . or Pharsi foresight? Either way, it worked out better for everyone, and I wrote her back immediately, saying that I understood, but hoping that I could at least call on her on Solayi afternoon-the eighth.
Although Master Dichartyn hadn’t said anything since he’d given me the information sheets dealing with the background on my shooting, I knew I had to start working on that assignment as well, but I had to start on Master Poincaryt’s portrait first. That was why, on Samedi morning, I was up before breakfast and over at my “studio,” making arrangements and checking the light. After hurrying over to the dining hall and eating, I returned to the studio and set up the easel and the chair.
As the first of the eight bells struck, Master Poincaryt stepped through the open door of the small converted workshop. He wore exactly the same gray garb as I did, with the addition of a small silver four-pointed star circled in silver and worn high on the left breast of his waistcoat. The silver circle only touched the star at the points, and the spaces between it and the star were open, showing the gray wool of the waistcoat. His eyes took in everything in single sweep and came to rest on me. Despite the lines carved into his face, his hair was jet black, as were the heavy eyebrows. The squarish shape of his face was offset by a chin that was almost elfin and a glint in his eyes as he moved toward me. “Rhennthyl.”
“Master Poincaryt.”
“You know that you’re the first imager that’s been a painter? That seems strange to me, because imaging is a visual skill, as is painting.”
